Monday, January 13, 2014

Archbishop to be created Cardinal by Pope Francis

The Holy Father, Pope Francis, has named the Most Reverend
Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, a Cardinal.

The announcement
came during Pope Francis’s Angelus in St Peter's Square on 12 January,
in which he created 15 more elector cardinals and three non-elector
cardinals.

Archbishop Nichols issued the following statement:

“Today, I am deeply moved by the honour conferred upon the Catholic
Church in England and Wales and on the Diocese of Westminster in my
appointment as Cardinal by His Holiness Pope Francis.

"The Catholic Church in our countries has always had a profound and
loving loyalty to the Holy Father, the Successor of St Peter. This
appointment enables me, on behalf of all, to serve the Pope in a direct
and prolonged way.

"Personally, this is a humbling moment when I am asked to take a
place in this service of the Holy See and in the line of much loved
Cardinal Archbishops of Westminster. I seek the blessing of Almighty God
for these new responsibilities and I ask for the prayers of all people
of faith that I may fulfil them with energy and devotion."

Archbishop Vincent is the 11th Archbishop of Westminster
to be named as a Cardinal. He will join the College of Cardinals at the
next consistory in Rome on 22 February, the Feast of the Chair of St
Peter.

Born in Crosby, Liverpool, on 8 November 1945, Vincent Nichols
studied for the priesthood at the Venerable English College in Rome from
1963 to 1970, gaining licences in philosophy and theology at the
Gregorian University. He was ordained priest in Rome on 21 December 1969
for the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

In January 1984, he was appointed
general secretary of the Bishops’ Conference in England & Wales.
From 1989 to 1996 he was moderator of the Steering Committee of the
Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland.

Mgr Vincent Nichols was
appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, with responsibility for North
London, on 24 January 1992 by Blessed John Paul II. He was named
Archbishop of Birmingham in February 2000 before returning to
Westminster in 2009 as Archbishop, successor to Cardinal Cormac
Murphy-O’Connor, who had reached the retirement age of 75.

Archbishop
Vincent was elected President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of
England and Wales by unanimous acclamation on 30 April 2009.